“Apple didn’t build its audio products by choosing off-the-shelf components that any other company can use — it designed and built them from scratch. The testing for all its products happens in the company’s audio lab in Cupertino, California,” Jim Dalrymple writes for The Loop. “Last week, they took me on a tour of the lab to show me what’s involved in making an audio product at Apple.”

“‘This impacts all of the products, it’s not just about HomePod,’ said Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President Worldwide Marketing. ‘It’s about speakers in iPhone, the quad speakers in iPad, what we put into Macs, microphone pick up, AirPods, and Siri and Apple TV. All of those products at one point in the development cycle came through here,'” Dalrymple writes. “I had a look at a HomePod that was taken apart and put on a table. Every aspect of the device was designed by Apple, specifically for the HomePod. Even the fabric mesh that covers HomePod was designed by the acoustic team in collaboration with other Apple teams to make sure it was acoustically transparent, but still met all of Apple’s other standards.”

Apple’s all-new HomePod

“Apple built an anechoic chamber specifically to build and test HomePod. The chamber is non-reflective and echo free, so it is a perfect environment for testing audio,” Dalrymple writes. “Apple’s anechoic chamber is a room, built within another room and set on isolating springs so vibrations from the outside are kept out of the testing environment. It’s also one of the largest anechoic chambers in the United States.”

Much more, including many photos, in the full article – recommended – here.

MacDailyNews Take: If you are an Apple Music member, HomePod is a no-brainer.

The HomePod is designed to adapt to the real world room where you place it. The software couldn’t do that unless it recognized how music is supposed to sound in a room without reflections or uneven absorption.

As is the usual case, being first is not necessarily the winner in the end….now that the market has been established Apple will mop up the competition by the end of the year (hot Christmas product).
I can see additional speaker products too…for car, boat, or any transportation system…Homepod is just the beginning of a new Apple income stream.

Elon Musk my No.1 choice to run Apple in place of Tim, make Apple insanely great again. Tim is greats at supply chain and by all means keep him on as a brilliant organisor , but what Apple really needs is a visionary. What will change the world in 10 years time?, we need someone brave who really wants to find out.